A marvellous morning at St Mary’s College
May 26, 2017 at 6:35 pm | Posted in Australian schools, children's literacy, Hobart, St Mary's College, Story Readings | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese culture, The Tale of Chester Choi, The Tale of Pin Yin Panda
What a fun morning I had today at St Mary’s College here in Hobart, introducing my Chinese Calendar Tales! My lonely dragon Chester Choi and I met all the lovely girls and boys of Prep to Year 1, and vain but loveable Pin Yin Panda and I met all the kids in Years 2 and 3! It was a joy to work with such a lovely lot of kids and their dedicated teachers. Warm thanks to lovely Deputy Director of Junior School, Glynis Devereux, who was my host for the day, and to librarian Marylouise Jones, who invited me! I hope to see you all again soon!
A Serious Session at PolyU, Hong Kong
May 22, 2017 at 6:00 pm | Posted in children's literacy, workshops | Leave a commentTags: How to Create Bookworms in the Digital Age, PolyU University Hong Kong
On Friday 19th May I was very honoured to be one of the invited speakers at the PolyU Writing Round Table 2017, focussing this time on Writing for Readers. I had the great pleasure to meet some fabulous PolyU students and staff, in my session about How to Create Bookworms in the Digital Age. It’s SUCH an important topic, and I was very grateful to my host, Shari Lughmani, for giving me the opportunity to share my research and views! My top tip for parents? Strictly limit your child’s time on digital screens, read aloud to them every night, and read lots of books yourself in front of your children!
A brilliant day at AISHK!
May 18, 2017 at 3:05 pm | Posted in AISHK, children's literacy, Hong Kong Schools, workshops | Leave a commentTags: Books are a Brain's Best Friend Workshop, Clever Competitions, The Chinese Calendar Tales, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster
A big thank you to the lovely Nicole Atkins, primary teacher librarian at Australian International School Hong Kong, for hosting me for a fabulous day of story readings and workshops on Tuesday! The Preps up to the Grade 2s met latest Chinese Calendar Tales character in two noisy story readings where they cockadoodle-dooed and cheered on the national team of their choice in The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster, and learned a little bit of Chinese history about Shanghai and the international concessions in China in the early 20th Century along the way! Then I met with the fantastic students of Grade 3 to 6 in two sessions of my very serious workshop, Books are a Brain’s Best Friend, where they learned all about the importance of reading print books to the development of the brain – both historically and right now, in this increasingly digital age. The kids were so impressive, coming up with some fascinating questions and observations, and I’m quite sure we all – me included – came away from these two intense sessions firmly resolved to limit our time on digital devices to a minimum, and to read more books in our leisure time in order to maximise our chances of a fulfilling, creative and happy life. Please do keep up the great book reading, my friends at AISHK, and make sure you enter my next Clever Competition!
Yay! The results are out in my Really Riveting Rooster Story competition!
May 14, 2017 at 9:49 pm | Posted in children's literacy, Rooster story, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: Clever Competition, Really Riveting Rooster Tale Story Competition, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster, Year of the Rooster
Cockadoodle doo! I’m just about roostered out!!
I’ve had enormous fun judging all the fantastic entries in my Really Riveting Rooster Tale writing competition, but I’ll be quite happy not to see another rooster for a while! Rickshaw Rooster had better watch out – I might just put him in a cooking pot!!
Once again, the competition was truly international, with entries coming from 6 major cities around the world: Calcutta, Chicago, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Sydney!
Special congratulations to Daniel Song, of Grade 3, Shanghai United International School, Hongqiao Campus, Shanghai, who came first in the Grades 1 to 3 Category, and Arjya Kanjilal, of Grade 6, Delhi Public School, Newtown, Calcutta, India, who placed first in the Grades 4 to 6 Category! Daniel and Arjya each win a free signed copy of one of my books!
Go to my Clever Competitions page (see link above) right away to read their winning stories, and the fantastic entries of the other 9 finalists, as well as two fabulous Special Mentions and a special treat from high school writers Hillary Lo and Winter Lau from Shatin College in Hong Kong!
Have patience, my writer friends…
May 14, 2017 at 2:34 pm | Posted in children's literacy, Rooster story, writing competitions | Leave a commentTags: Clever Competitions, Really Riveting Rooster Tale Story Competition, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster, The Year of the Rooster, Writing Competitions for Kids
I’m almost there! I’ve been super busy judging the fabulous entries in my Really Riveting Rooster Tale Clever Competition over the last VERY busy fortnight and I’m just about finished! So hang in there – the results should be out in the next 24 hours – COCKADOODLE – DOOOOOOO!
The deadlines have passed…and the judging begins!
May 1, 2017 at 5:30 pm | Posted in children's literacy, Hong Kong Minibus, Photo competitions, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: Clever Competition, March Madness Minibus Photo Competition, Really Riveting Rooster Tale Story Competition
The deadlines in my Really Riveting Rooster Tale story writing competition AND our March Minibus Madness Photo Competition have passed – and now comes the really difficult part!! A big THANK YOU to all the fab writers from all around the world…and the brilliant Hong Kong photographers…who entered! It’s going to be tough but fun, choosing the winners! So hang in there – I’ll be posting the results soon!
Hurry, hurry! Just 13 days left in my Really Riveting Rooster Tale competition!
April 17, 2017 at 4:55 pm | Posted in children's literacy, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: Clever Competitions, Really Riveting Rooster Tale Story Competition, The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster, The Year of the Rooster
If you haven’t yet entered your story for my Really Riveting Rooster Tale Competition yet, you’d better get your racing shoes on!! There are just 13 days left before the deadline at midnight on 30 April! This one’s such a fun one – click on my Clever Competitions button above for all the details! I look forward to reading your entry – cockadoodle-dooooo!
The race is ON! Just 3 weeks to go to get your entries into my Really Riveting Rooster Tale Story Competition!
April 8, 2017 at 4:16 pm | Posted in children's literacy, Writing competitions for kids | Leave a commentTags: Really Riveting Rooster Tale Story Competition, Sarah Brennan's Clever Competitions
Sir 
(Sir Humphrey Hyphen-Smythe in The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster, illustrated by Harry Harrison)
The clock is ticking, it’s Easter holidays and the weather’s variable. It’s just that sort of time when the best fun of all comes from – you guessed it! – your very own imagination! So what a perfect time to get out those pens and write me a Really Riveting Rooster Tale! There are just 3 weeks to go till the deadline on 30 April, and I can’t wait to read all your entries! So go to my Clever Competitions page here: https://sarahbrennanblog.com/competitions-and-challenges for all the information you need – and, like Sir Humphrey Hyphen-Smythe from The Tale of Rickshaw Rooster, REV UP THOSE ENGINES…AND GET WRITING!
Turn off those digital devices, kids! My article in the SCMP Education Post…
March 30, 2017 at 12:04 pm | Posted in children's literacy, media articles | Leave a commentTags: children's literacy, Digital devices, Digital games, Education Post, John Cremer, South China Morning Post
As you know, I’m passionate about kids reading lots and lots and lots of books…and equally passionate about kids turning OFF their digital devices!! Scientific studies have proven, again and again, that the very best way to become not just a great writer, but also a great thinker, with a strong imagination and an original mind, is to read printed books, widely and well, and A LOT! They’re also proving that spending too much time on digital toys and screens (and the American Association of Pediatrics says that shouldn’t be more than 1 to 2 hours a day in total of high quality content) is very bad for you kids and can seriously affect your intellectual, physical and social development…OUCH!
Read my interview with John Cremer on 28th March in the South China Morning Post Education Post here – http://www.educationpost.com.hk/resources/parents-guide/170328-sponsored-feature-children-should-spend-more-time-reading-books-and-less-time-using-gadgets-says-panellist.
And then turn off your computer and bury your nose in a fabulous BOOK!
YAY!
A magical Saturday with Leigh Hobbs!
March 28, 2017 at 9:59 am | Posted in Being an Author, children's literacy | Leave a commentTags: Allen and Unwin, Australian authors, Children's Laureate, Leigh Hobbs
What a wonderful day I had on Saturday, with the altogether fabulous Leigh Hobbs, who just happens to be Australia’s Children’s Laureate (which means super-special Aussie children’s author and illustrator to you and me!). My lovely husband and I kidnapped Leigh from his hotel, where Leigh was staying whilst visiting some lucky primary schools in Hong Kong, and took him to Stanley for lunch and a drive around the island! Leigh is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and we became firm friends! And if you haven’t read any of Leigh’s books yet, you’re in for a treat! Here are just some of the wacky characters, and best-selling books, Leigh has created, which have been published by my favourite Aussie publishers, Allen and Unwin! Borrow them from your library, or even better yet, buy them for your own library of books at home!
Blog at WordPress.com.
Entries and comments feeds.
Sarah Brennan Funny & Fabulous Blog 